Manchester United v Newcastle Preview

Preview

Jose Mourinho's tenure as Manchester United manager feels eerily close to the end and another loss at home to 18th place Newcastle may well sound the death knell. Manchester United have made their worst league start in 29 years, managing three wins in their last nine matches in all competitions and it appears the manager is no longer able to extract every ounce of their collective abilities. The Red Devils have only had 26% of possession in the opposition’s third so far this season and recorded only 59 sprints in their weekend defeat to West Ham. A record put to shame by Liverpool’s 154 sprints against Chelsea in their 1-1 draw. Rumours are rife that Mourinho’s heavy handed approach and constant hanging out of the players to dry have lost him the dressing room and pushed the club to the brink of crisis.

The Magpies will hope that this is a chance to pile more pressure on Manchester United and Rafael Benitez would dearly like to beat his former nemesis – Mourinho. However, Newcastle have serious issues of their own. The fans have become disillusioned with Mike Ashley’s antics, refusing to sell the club, denying Benitez the cash to build a balanced and competitive team and promising to take the players on a holiday instead if they avoid relegation. Newcastle have had a horrendous start to their Premier League campaign, scoring only four goals in the league and salvaging just two points so far. They are clearly a team struggling with form at the moment and a relegation battle looks a real possibility this season. Newcastle faithfuls will feel that the round of fixtures after the international break offers a better opportunity to turn around their team’s fortunes than the Saturday evening trip to Old Trafford- they have only ever recorded a solitary victory there in Premier League history.

This is a fixture the Red Devils have historically dominated with 84 wins in 165 competitive meetings dating back to 1895. The Tyneside club have been victorious 42 times and drawn 39 times. Last season, Manchester United came from a goal down to thrash Newcastle 4-1 at Old Trafford in November but the magpies won the reverse fixture 1-0 at St. James Park in March.

Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young, Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo all missed the 0-0 Champions League draw with Valencia on Tuesday and it remains to be seen if the quartet will return to the squad for this fixture. Antonio Valencia’s claim that he mistakenly liked a tweet that called for his manager’s sacking after the Valencia game may also mean that he is banished to the bench if Jose finds his excuse untenable. Newcastle expect to be without long-term absentee Florian Lejeune and Salomon Rondon but both Federico Fernandez and Paul Dummett should be available after missing Newcastle’s defeat to Leicester City due to hamstring Injuries. DeAndre Yedlin is also expected to pass his fitness test and be available for the game.

Manchester United may have looked uninspiring in recent games but make no mistake, they have the players to devour most teams in the land when they are in the mood. This game may finally signal the light at the end of the tunnel for Jose, something Benitez and his team will be desperately hoping against.

Cheshire official Anthony Taylor will take charge of this game – his first United match of the season. The game kicks off 17:30 BST

Verdict

For all the troubles at Manchester United I think Newcastle's are worse and though they have tremendous support I am afraid the Magpies will not get anything from this game. Even a subdued Manchester United should have no trouble winning this match and the prediction is 2-0 to Manchester United.